A Charmed Life
Today I was driving into work by myself and I had one of those thought over-dose moments. I have a friend who actually wakes up in the middle of the night with thought-overdrive. He can't get back to sleep, so he goes to a coffee shop or his office and journals.
I like my sleep, so I'm not quite that radical. My speed is when a thought percolates long enough and it starts to take shape, it becomes a blog post.
A charmed life. I know it's misquoted; it's from Macbeth of whose main character, Macbeth, it is said -- pejoratively -- that he has a charmed life. Ie. he thinks he's invincible because of certain equivocal prophecies given to him by three nasty witches. That's not the kind of charmed life I'm thinking of.
Several times this week -- and on the drive into work -- the thought occurred to me that I'm a very happy (aka blessed) man. My wife and I are now empty nest; the house is quiet and it stays relatively mess-free. Although I miss our kids, they're happy (our oldest is married to a great young man) and they like coming home. They're happy, so we're happy. We weren't perfect parents by any stretch, but at this point, we certainly feel a certain sense of being both humbled and validated.
Along with my family, I'm also very happy with what I'm doing with the rest of my life: my faith and my work.
I've felt like this many times in periods of my life. I've rarely felt the polar opposite -- depression and despair.
To be fair, I haven't had much calamity in my life. I was brought up by parents who were (still are) incredibly generous and self-sacrificing. They worked extremely difficult factory jobs so that my brother and I could get the best opportunities possible.
I asked my dad the other day, "If money, education, and circumstances had not been an obstacle and you could turn the clock back, what would you have chosen as a career?" Without hesitation, he said "auto mechanic." Much to my shame, I never knew. The thing is, he's never whined or complained about his work-life. This was the first time I was hearing about it.
My mom has said several times that she would've loved to have continued in school. In her day, 1) they were poor and most didn't go to school past grade 5! and 2) if you were a male, then maybe you could beat the odds, but if you were female, well, it just wasn't in the cards.
So I asked her the same question. She said, also without hesitation, "school teacher -- elementary."
That was a side-track. Or maybe it wasn't because I am largely what I am because of my parents.
The thing about a charmed life according to the text is the flip side. It's easy to be happy when things are going well (and, in Macbeth, even over-confident) but when troubled-times come my way -- and they will come -- then what?
I hope that I will recognize then, during the hard times, as I do now, during the good times, that there are constants. Regardless of life's circumstances, there is God, there is faith, there is hope and there is love.
I like my sleep, so I'm not quite that radical. My speed is when a thought percolates long enough and it starts to take shape, it becomes a blog post.
A charmed life. I know it's misquoted; it's from Macbeth of whose main character, Macbeth, it is said -- pejoratively -- that he has a charmed life. Ie. he thinks he's invincible because of certain equivocal prophecies given to him by three nasty witches. That's not the kind of charmed life I'm thinking of.
Several times this week -- and on the drive into work -- the thought occurred to me that I'm a very happy (aka blessed) man. My wife and I are now empty nest; the house is quiet and it stays relatively mess-free. Although I miss our kids, they're happy (our oldest is married to a great young man) and they like coming home. They're happy, so we're happy. We weren't perfect parents by any stretch, but at this point, we certainly feel a certain sense of being both humbled and validated.
Along with my family, I'm also very happy with what I'm doing with the rest of my life: my faith and my work.
I've felt like this many times in periods of my life. I've rarely felt the polar opposite -- depression and despair.
To be fair, I haven't had much calamity in my life. I was brought up by parents who were (still are) incredibly generous and self-sacrificing. They worked extremely difficult factory jobs so that my brother and I could get the best opportunities possible.
I asked my dad the other day, "If money, education, and circumstances had not been an obstacle and you could turn the clock back, what would you have chosen as a career?" Without hesitation, he said "auto mechanic." Much to my shame, I never knew. The thing is, he's never whined or complained about his work-life. This was the first time I was hearing about it.
My mom has said several times that she would've loved to have continued in school. In her day, 1) they were poor and most didn't go to school past grade 5! and 2) if you were a male, then maybe you could beat the odds, but if you were female, well, it just wasn't in the cards.
So I asked her the same question. She said, also without hesitation, "school teacher -- elementary."
That was a side-track. Or maybe it wasn't because I am largely what I am because of my parents.
The thing about a charmed life according to the text is the flip side. It's easy to be happy when things are going well (and, in Macbeth, even over-confident) but when troubled-times come my way -- and they will come -- then what?
I hope that I will recognize then, during the hard times, as I do now, during the good times, that there are constants. Regardless of life's circumstances, there is God, there is faith, there is hope and there is love.
Wow Roc, I have no clue this was up here and it's really profound. Thanks for this and sharing, even though I am late in reading it ? It's crazy that I have frequently thought many of the same things. I am inspired to ask my own folks the same.. really grateful for this post. Thanks again.
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